street neighborhood david forest remembers how long it took to get electricity restored after hurricane irene. how is it to know you're going into a period of a week or so without power? >> i think it's better than last year, we kept thinking it was going to be everyday we'd get power. >> reporter: just next door, susan crowe says she's prepared for a number of rough days. >> you can have a somehow ere but it's a cold shower. you have no hot water. of course, you have nothing to cook with. >> reporter: down the street, we bumped into utility contractor rusty maxwell who said he was too busy to stop for long. what's involved with getting the power back on here? >> well, the power company has to go evaluation all the feeders and the power sources and go from there. >> reporter: scott, this is what those utility crews are up against: giant trees on top of power lines. these trees have to be removed before power can be restored. >> pelley: we wondered if sandy would disrupt gasoline supplies. it turns out six refineries in the northeast were affected by the storm. two of them shut down and four s